


Young Justice: Transformers

by Aquilaaqua



Category: Justice League - All Media Types, Transformers (Bay Movies), Transformers - All Media Types, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Post YJ Season 3
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:33:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24252883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aquilaaqua/pseuds/Aquilaaqua
Summary: Things are looking up for the Team and Justice League. The Light has been quiet for weeks following Markovia, more metahuman trafficking rings are found and shut down faster as Troia abolished the restrictions preventing the League from doing so in the past, the Metahuman Center is growing significantly as more teens are brought there to heal and learn. But all that is put on halt when a meteorite crashes in Will’s neighborhood and giant robots are fighting in Mission City. (Post YJ S3)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sets a few months after the ending of Young Justice s3. The Bay Movies is the main setting for this crossover, but I will be drawing elements from other Transformers franchise such as Prime, Animated and Cyberverse.  
> Note: If I am more familiar with a version of a character from Transformer that is different from the movie or not in the movie at all, I will use that version instead. For example, I a more familiar with Prime!Arcee than Movie!Arcee so I will use Prime!Arcee.
> 
> And in case you read my other fics, Young Justice (cartoon) is the main setting that I use when writing DC related stories mainly because it is the DC material that I am most familiar with.

It was a quiet night in a suburban neighborhood in Star City. Artemis was thankful for that as she parked her bike beside Will’s new SUV in the drive. The house was dark as Will had taken Lian to Ollie’s and Violet and Tara are at the Hub. She had just come back from helping Nightwing, Robin and Oracle in Gotham to stop Scarecrow since Batman was occupied by the League. She contemplated spending the night at her mother’s place once they were done but decided against it. She and Will were avoiding Paula ever since her blow up at Thanksgiving and further disappointment when Will told her firmly that he and Artemis will remain as friends and not date each other.

And she would rather come back than stay the night at the manor despite Dick’s offer when they had another mission with the Team the next morning. But later she would come to regret that decision when something crashed into the street, right in front of the house. Sparks flew and glass shattered as there was a blinding light and a loud boom. Artemis gasped pain when she was thrown against the garage by the impact headfirst.

With a groan, she blinked in attempt to clear the black spots in her vision. And she is fairly certain she has a concussion. Otherwise, how was she supposed to explain the blurry, massive thing that crawled out of the crater and shot a blue light at her now badly dented bike. She flinched, thinking it was something like heat vision but to her surprise, once it moved over her bike, it ran away. The sound of clogs and gears shifting was barely heard over the ringing in her ears.

Artemis must have blacked out for when she opened her eyes again, it was to the shaking of her neighbor, Ms. Tobes.

“Oh, thank goodness! Mark, call an ambulance!” She yelled over her shoulder at her husband. Turning back to Artemis, she pressed on Artemis shoulders to prevent her from getting up. “Stay still, Artemis. Mark is calling the firefighters and the ambulance. Can you tell me what happened here? Where does it hurt?”

“I-I don’t know.” Artemis slurred, obeying Ms. Tobes’ gestures to lie back down, too dizzy to protest. “I think I hit my head against the garage.”

“The ambulance and firefighters are on their way. And they said to stay back from the crater…Is that Wonder Woman!?” Someone yelped as the Greek Heroine descended and landed beside the strangely now empty crater.

Looking around worriedly, she called, “Is anybody hurt?”

“Over here!” Ms. Tobes waved her over to Artemis. “She was outside when…whatever it was crashed here.”

Wonder Woman hurried over, briefly glancing at the house where Brucely was frantically barking and pawing at the window. “Is there anyone else living here?” She asked even though she probably knew but feigned ignorance.

“They’re out for the evening.” Artemis rasped but quickly turned her head to the side when a wave of nausea hit her.

“I think she has a concussion. My son called the ambulance just now.” Ms. Tobes explained.

Wonder Woman nodded and moved back to the crowd around the crater. “Is anyone else hurt?”

Many shook their heads. Other than a power outage and a few scraps and cuts when the glass shattered, no one else was injured.

“Um, Wonder Woman, is this another alien invasion?! I mean, it can’t be a meteorite! The crater is empty!”

Wonder Woman held back a sigh as gasps and murmurs ran out in the crowd. She clapped to get their attention and addressed them in her authoritative voice. “That is what the Justice League is going to find out. Please remain calm and return back to your homes until the emergency services arrive. I promise, we will get to the bottom of this.”

There were grumbles but the people complied. Wonder Woman then tapped on the comm in her ear. “Wonder Woman to Watchtower. There’s nothing here.”

 _“The same was reported at the other sites._ ” Red Tornado informed her. _“And what of Tigress and Red Arrow? Their place of residence is right at your site.”_

“Tigress is injured but Red Arrow is out with his daughter.” Wonder Woman answered quietly. “Send Sen to the hospital to look after her.”

_“Understood. Red Tornado out.”_

Once she ended the call, she turned her attention back to Artemis and Ms. Tobes. “Is there anyone we can call?” She asked softly.

“My brother-in-law.” Artemis blinked as she nearly drifted off but it was Ms. Tobes’ shaking that kept her alert.

“I have his number.” Ms. Tobes spoke up.

“Please call him. I can stay with her.”

Ms. Tobes was reluctant to leave Artemis’ side but since Wonder Woman offered to watch her, she stepped aside to make the call. Once she was out of earshot, Wonder Woman leaned in closer to Artemis.

“Did you see anything come out of the crater?” She whispered.

Artemis nodded, to Wonder Woman’s dread. Artemis winced as she lifted her hand and pointed at her bike. “I couldn’t see what it was but it was massive. It shone something on my bike and left.”

This was alarming to the older heroine. Once Ms. Tobes returned, she moved to inspect the bike. There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong other than being damaged from being in close proximity of the crash. But appearances can be deceiving as she learned many times in the past. The ambulance and firefighters soon arrived and took Artemis to the hospital.

Wonder Woman tied her lasso around the bike and hauled it with her as she headed to the nearest Zeta Tube to the bafflement of onlookers. If it was a hostile alien and did something to the bike, it was imperative that they find out what they did.

“Wonder Woman to Green Lantern, I need you at the Watchtower. I have something of interest from the crash site.”

* * *

A sleek sportscar swerved into the hospital’s parking lot and its occupants stumbled out when it came to a stop. Barely pausing, they rushed inside, startling the receptionist.

“We’re looking for Artemis Crock.” Oliver said breathlessly. The receptionist was visibly surprise by the presence of Oliver Queen and looked like she wanted to ask questions but her professionalism won out. She quickly typed something into the computer.

“A-ah, she’s in Room 384. But the Justice League sent a medic here to treat her and she isn’t letting anyone but family see her.”

“I’m her brother-in-law. He’s my…former foster father. He and Artemis are close too.” Will explained to her. Without wasting anymore time, they headed up ignoring the receptionist’s questions.

Just before they burst into the room, the doctor stepped out. She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at them, forcing them to stop and calm down.

“The two of you came here faster than I expected.” She ushered them in and locked the door behind them. Sen, one of the medics for the League, was not surprised by Oliver and Will’s arrival having anticipated it and was warned by Diana beforehand. After Red Tornado told her that Artemis was being transported to the hospital, she followed protocol and came to the hospital to monitor her in case of any side effects from possibly being in contact with an unknown alien.

“How is she?” Oliver asked as he made a beeline to Artemis’ side. She was a bit more coherent and alert than she was with Wonder Woman and she gave him a slight irritated glare. There were bandages around her head where she hit it.

“Other than a concussion, nothing else.” Sen hummed. “But I want to keep her in for the night before moving her to the Watchtower for further observation.”

“I’m fine.” Artemis groaned. “That thing didn’t do anything to me, just my bike.”

The three other occupants in the room tensed up at that. Will carefully asked, “Artemis, did you see what came out of the crater?”

“Sort of. It was blurry but I’m pretty sure it was huge…as tall as your house tall, maybe taller.” Artemis grimaced as she tried to recall what happened. “I told Diana that it shone something at my bike and I think she took it…and I’m not sure if it was the concussion but I heard something metallic, like cogs and gears shifting when it fled.”

“I’ll report this to the Watchtower as soon as I can.” Oliver promised.

“In the meantime, you need to rest. And you and I need to debrief the League.” Sen pointed out to him.

Oliver sighed dramatically and gave her a one arm hug. “We’ll see you tomorrow kiddo.”

“Not a kid anymore.” Artemis grumbled as she swatted his arm away.

“Dinah will bring Lian over tomorrow to see you before Sen moves you. I’m going back to assess the damage.”

“You might not like the state of your SUV.”

Will groaned, burying his face in his hands. “I just replaced it.”

“I can get you a new one…” Oliver’s voice trailed off as the door shut behind them. Sen did some final checks on Artemis before she left as well. Artemis leaned back against her pillow and sighed. She should have taken on Dick’s offer to stay at the manor for the night. Now she can’t go on the mission with him tomorrow.

* * *

Shortly after Oliver and Will left the hospital, they split off with Will going to his house to assess the damage after letting Dinah know that Artemis was alright and asking her to watch over Lian for the night while Oliver headed to the Watchtower to report back to the Justice League.

_Recognized: Green Arrow-08_

Green Arrow was immediately greeted by the Outsiders with Halo bombarding him with questions about Artemis.

“Whoa, whoa! I can’t answer your questions if you don’t let me!”

Instantly, the teens backed down save for Halo and Tera. Green Arrow flashed a reassuring grin. “Just a concussion. Don’t worry, you all know how tough she is. She’ll be back on her feet before you know it. You guys can see her tomorrow when Sen moves her here.”

There were sighs of relief from them, Halo and Tera squeezing each other’s hands tightly in relief. Green Arrow scanned the group and noted that two of them were missing.

“Where’s Cyborg and Superboy?”

“Superboy is checking on Artemis’ bike in the lab with Hal. And Cyborg’s in the Monitor Womb. He’s reporting his findings on the Air Force One hack.” Beast Boy pointed at the direction of the Monitor Womb.

“Conveniently where I was headed too. Don’t stay up here too late.” Green Arrow waved at them as he entered the Monitor Womb where Cyborg was giving his report to Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and Black Lightning. Oracle and the other Leaguers at the crash sites were also present by hologram, save for Flash.

After months of peace for the Justice League as they were cleaning up the mess of Markovia and Luthor’s UN restrictions being lifted thanks to Trioa, they were long overdue a disaster. The disaster being the attack on the military base in Qatar with only a small group of survivors found after they were attacked again. The military wouldn’t divulge information about what happened but Batman decided to look into it. Not long later, there was another incident, this time on the Air Force One where someone or something tried to hack the military network through it. This time, the president himself requested the League to look into it. As the resident walking computer, the League asked Cyborg for help to investigate the hack after Oracle could not find the hacker, weirdly enough.

“…I really don’t know what to make out of this data. It’s alien but…I think the Fatherbox tech recognizes it.” Cyborg explained to the League. He pulled up a screen displaying glyphs that he didn’t recognized. And Green Lantern’s ring could not translate them either which was unusual to say the least.

“But do you think it is Apokoliptian or New Genesis?” Black Lightning asked him.

“I don’t think so. Neither does Halo, I checked.” Cyborg shrugged.

Black Lightning’s brow furrowed and he turned to Batman. “Do you think that this is connected to the attack on the military base in Qatar?”

“Yes.” Batman nodded as he pulled up some photos of the decimated base. “I managed to obtain a copy of the investigation file on the matter through a contact of mine. Something caught my attention.”

He enlarged one of the photos which showed what was once the server room. The server was badly damaged with wires protruding out from it. He pointed at a specific spot where the power box was with wires that were burnt and cut. “Someone had cut the power to shut down the server. That means that the objective of the attack was the military network.”

“So whoever it was attacked the base first to get the information but was thwarted when the server was shut down and destroyed the base to cover it up.” Superman summarized.

“And we know that they are alien or at least someone using alien tech.” Wonder Woman waved at Cyborg’s screen. “And there is the matter of the meteor shower. No casualties reported at each crash site. A few minor injuries but so far, Artemis is the only one who needs serious medical attention.”

“Did anyone find anything at the crash sites?” Black Lightning then asked the Leaguers in hologram.

“Nothing from the cameras yet.” Oracle shook her head. “The meteorite crashes caused power outages in several sites so I need to wait for the power to be restored there. But I’m not holding my breath. And some sites are isolated so there aren’t any cameras there.”

“And there was nothing in the craters by the time we got here, nor were there any signs that someone had moved them.” Aquaman shook his head with the other Leaguers nodding in agreement.

“Artemis must be the only one to see what was in the craters then.” Wonder Woman said grimly.

Green Arrow then took his cue to speak up. “Artemis told me that whatever it was, it was massive.” All heads turned to him and Wonder Woman nodded in confirmation.

“She told me that too.”

“How massive are we talking about here?” Black Lightning asked warily, his face pinched.

“About two stories high? And she was not certain about it, but she thought she heard something as they were leaving, like cogs and gears shifting.”

“I see.” Batman hummed in thought.

“Bad news on the bike, it’s a dead end.” Hal announced as he entered the Monitor Womb. “The ring found nothing suspicious with it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course Spooky.” Hal rolled his eyes. “Superboy disassembled it and I scanned each part for any signs of alien traces. And there was nothing. Superboy could not find anything wrong with each part either.”

“But Artemis was certain that it shone something on it.” Green Arrow frowned.

“Maybe it was nothing?” Hal shrugged.

“Let’s leave the matter of the bike aside for now. Flash has yet to report in on his site.”

Just as Black Lightning said that, the Flash’s hologram fizzed to life. He was grinning madly and waving his arms.

“Sorry I’m late, but I got something that can help us!” The annoyance of the Leaguers melted at Flash’s declaration and into eagerness.

“What is it then?”

“Ok, so my site is actually in a town and it crashed right into a hardware store. And nearby, there’s a party going on.”

Superman raised an eyebrow at that. “How is that going to help us?”

“It’s a teenager’s party! They have their phones!”

“Ah.”

“Anyway, when the meteorite crashed, it caught their attraction and being teenagers, they went to investigate it. And since the power was out, they couldn’t live stream it so they recorded it instead. Thankfully emergency services arrived before they did before they can actually get close to the crater. It took me a lot of haggling to get them to hand over the clips and not post anything about it, which is why I was late.”

It was a reasonable excuse to be late for the debriefing, the Leaguers supposed, knowing too well how stubborn teenagers can be since they have two teams consisting of teenagers and young adults.

“Bring the clips up so that we can analyze them.” Batman told him and nodded at Oracle. While Cyborg may be a better option to analyze the clips, Oracle had more experience with this kind of detective work. And Cyborg still needs to find the hacker of the military network.

“Since we do not have much to go on, we will reconvene tomorrow to track down the aliens that crashed on Earth. And hopefully Oracle and Cyborg can find something for us to go on.”

* * *

Four of the five Autobots that landed on Earth the night before were hiding as they awaited their fifth companion before they tracked down the AllSpark. When they landed on Earth, their last companion strangely swerved off course and landed further than she intended. And if she did not arrive soon, they would have to go on without her or Bumblebee’s sacrifice would be in vain.

Optimus wished that he could have done more to save his friend and Sam and Mikaela or track them down. But time was of the essence. Deep in his spark, he knew that the three of them will be safe and will see them again. But he also knew that the Decepticons are just as close as they are to the AllSpark and Megatron. They must find the AllSpark and destroy it before the Decepticons do.

“There she is.” Ratchet spoke as a blue motorbike drove over to them with the red Autobot insignia and a holographic driver on its back. When it got closer, the hologram fizzed out and it transformed into a blue robot that was smaller than her companions.

“Sorry for the delay. I got knocked off course by an asteroid orbiting Earth.”

“That’s alright Arcee. As long as you are here now, we can go after the AllSpark.” Optimus held up the glasses. He whispered a silent prayer for it to work and read the coordinates on the glasses. “The code…the code on these glasses indicate that the AllSpark is 230 miles from here.”

“I sense that the Decepticons are getting ready to mobilize.” Ratchet warned them.

Ironhide nodded in agreement to the medic’s words. “They must know that its here as well.”

“What about Bumblebee? We can’t just leave him to die and become some human experiment.” Jazz pointed out, concern for his friend.

“What? What happened to Bee?” Arcee grew worried.

“The humans have captured Bumblebee in our endeavor to retrieve the glasses.” Optimus explained to her.

“Then why are we not going to save him?” She demanded.

“He’ll die in vain if we don’t complete our mission.” Optimus chided her sternly. “Bumblebee is a brave soldier. This is what he would want.”

“Why are we fighting to save the humans?” Ironhide asked with disdain, a sentiment shared among his fellow Autobots. “They are a primitive and violent race.”

Optimus barely blinked when he gave his answer, one that shut down their disdain. “Were we so different?”

“They’re a young species. They have much to learn, but I’ve seen goodness in them. Freedom is the right of all sentient beings. You all know there is only one way to end this war. We must destroy the Cube. If all else fails, I will unite it with the spark of my chest.”

“That’s suicide.” Ratchet protested. “That Cube is raw power. It will destroy you both.”

“A necessary sacrifice.” Optimus brushed off his friend’s protest. “To bring peace to this planet. We cannot let the humans pay for our mistakes.” Glancing at each of the loyal soldiers that will follow him to the end, he breath out, “It’s been an honor serving with you all. Autobots, roll out!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place in late 2018, eleven years later than in the movies.

“Hm.”

Superman raised an eyebrow at Batman’s grunt as he reviewed Oracle and Cyborg’s reports on their respective investigation. “Care to share what found, Bruce?”

“Code names.” He automatically replied.

“It’s just us in the monitor womb. And your identity was pretty much outed the day you ‘resigned’ last year.” Superman pointed out nonchalantly. “And did you get any sleep at all?”

“I took a power nap earlier.”

“Agent A won’t be pleased to hear that.”

“The security of our planet is at stake.” Batman retorted. Superman can only sigh in exasperation at his friend. In some ways, the Dark Knight had changed a lot since joining the Justice League and taking in his horde of children. But his obsession with his work and secrets is still the same.

“Alright. But did you find anything in Oracle and Cyborg’s reports?”

In response, Batman brought up the footage that the Flash retrieved the night before. As it played, Superman had to wonder if the teenagers that filmed the footage had any survival instincts. Getting as close at they did to the crash site was dangerous as the meteorite could have had harmful radiation against humans or be an alien invading Earth. Batman unexpectedly paused at a certain point and zoomed in on a bright Hummer rescue vehicle driving away from the scene. Batman tapped at the vehicle.

“Oracle investigated the reports of the site. All rescue vehicles that arrived at the scene were accounted for and never left when this footage was taken. Which means that the Hummer that is leaving is not part of the crew that arrived at the scene…” Batman paused as a thought occurred to him. As absurd as it may sound, the clues from Artemis’ testimony and Oracle and Cyborg’s reports line up perfectly with his theory.

Superman tilted his head at his friend. “Batman?”

“Clark, what if the reason why we cannot find or detect the aliens that landed on Earth is because they are already hiding in plain sight?”

Superman jolted at the use of his civilian name, namely because Batman had just chided him for using his a few minutes ago. He blinked at Batman’s question and slowly nodded as his thoughts slowly caught on to what Batman was implying.

“Is it possible that these aliens are robotic aliens?”

“It is the most likely answer. It would explain the sounds that Artemis heard, how the aliens managed to get away from the crash sites before the Justice League could get there, and the footage. They are likely capable of transforming into Earth vehicles to disguise themselves and move under our radar.”

Superman slowly nodded again in understanding. “It’s plausible. But there isn’t anything that can back up that theory yet.”

“Cyborg found the file that the hacker of Air Force One was trying to download. The key is must be in the files of Project Iceman then.” Batman resumed his work on the terminal.

“You’re not thinking of hacking a classified military file, are you?” Superman asked warily. “Black Lightning would not approve.”

Batman silently huffed at that. Before this, he would definitely hack the file or got Oracle to do so. But he promised Nightwing that he would follow Black Lightning’s demands to minimize their less than legal actions and secrets in the Justice League. That didn’t mean that he didn’t have other methods to get the file without getting Black Lightning or Nightwing’s ire on him.

“I called in a favor to get the file open for the Justice League.” He said with a straight face, ignoring Superman’s weird look. He rolled his eyes under the cowl. Yes, he had military contacts as Batman and Bruce Wayne, and yes, their methods are not very legal either. But he was not going to tell Clark or Jeff that. It didn’t take long before he got the file open and he and Superman read through it.

* * *

_Hoover Dam_

The hot sun over the dam was suffocating. But what’s more suffocating is knowing that Bee is in the hands of these people who can hurt him, Sam thought. The agent from the night before tried to play nice with him and Mikaela as though he didn’t threaten them and hurt Optimus and Bumblebee a mere few hours ago. But he wasn’t in the mode to play nice.

“Where’s my car?” He demanded. Instead of answering him, another man, this one smartly dressed, stepped towards him.

“Son, I need you to listen to me very carefully. People can die here. We need to know everything you know and we need to know it now.” He said firmly.

“Okay.” Sam seemingly agreed, making the man slightly relieved until Sam made his demands. “First, I’ll take my car, my parents…you should write that down.” He tilted his head in disdain at Simmons. Then remembering something, he glanced at Mikaela as he added, “Oh and her juvie record. That’s got to be gone, like forever.”

Simmons glared at him behind his sunglasses but the man merely gestured for the two of them to follow him. “Come with me. We’ll talk about your car.”

Sam’s spirits lifted at the offer and it went higher when Mikaela thanked him. As they brushed past Simmons, a black plane of unusual make flew close. Simmons and the man froze at the sight of the plane and Sam briefly wondered if it was the Decepticons. But upon closer inspection, he recognized the plane.

“It’s the Batplane!” Some tourist at the dam cheered.

“Does this mean Batman’s here?!”

Sure enough, once the plane was low enough, Batman, Black Lightning, Zatanna and Rocket descended from it and it flew off. At the front, the Secretary of Defense and his entourage paused at the sight of them. Maggie, her friend and the soldiers were gaping at the presence of the heroes. But Keller had a secret smile on his face.

“The Justice League.” Simmons sneered. “This is a restricted area. Leave before we arrest you.”

“Like your arrest of those teens?” Black Lightning tilted his head at Sam and Mikaela. “There are better ways to earn their cooperation than to simply arrest them for no reason at all.”

“You have no right…” Simmons trailed off at Batman’s Batglare. The Dark Knight approached the other man and showed him a piece of paper that was signed by the president.

“The president knows that we know about Project Iceman and has given us permission to investigate the potential global threat that is centered around it.”

Simmons and the man, Sam later learned is Director Banachek of Sector Seven, snapped their jaws shut in shock. Scanning through the paper, Benechek realized he had no other choice but to comply with the president’s order to show them NBE-1. But hopefully they can get away with not telling them about the cube.

* * *

The group was led down the dam where there was a lab with Simmons explaining about why everyone that was not a Leaguer was there and about NBE-1. Before entering the walls, Black Lighting subtly tapped his earpiece. Zatanna and Batman moved in front to prevent anyone from realizing that he had fallen back and is communicating with the Watchtower.

“Black Lightning to Oracle, we are entering Hoover Dam. Do not expect any contact while we’re inside.”

_“Copy that. I already hacked the cameras inside. The League, Team and Outsiders are assembling and are on standby until you or Superman gives the signal.”_

“Have Superman and Wonder Woman made contact with the convoy yet?”

_“Approaching. It shouldn’t be long until they do. And Martian Manhunter just arrived at Hoover Dam. If anything happens, give him a mental shout and he’ll call us.”_

“Understood. Black Lightning out.” Black Lightning ended the call and ran to catch up with the group. “What did I miss?”

“Nothing yet.” Rocket murmured back.

“What you are about to see is totally classified.” Banachek told them as he led them into a massive lab. Everyone’s jaws dropped when they saw the NBE-1, a massive robot that was frozen in place. Even Black Lightning and Batman who had seen photos of it from the file could barely contain their amazement and wariness.

“That is one big ugly robot.” Rocket whispered to Zatanna who nodded in agreement.

“We think when he made his approach over the North Pole, our gravitational field screwed up his telemetry and he crashed in the ice. Probably a few thousand years ago.” Banachek explained at Keller’s whisper of a question of what it was. “We shipped him here to this facility in 1934.”

“Call him NBE-1.” Simmons told them.

Sam cleared his throat to get their attention. “Sir, I don’t mean to correct you on everything you know, but that’s Megatron. He’s the leader of the Decepticons”

Batman jerked his head sharply at Sam. “You need to tell us everything you know about this Megatron and Decepticons.”

Sam was cowed at being addressed by the Dark Knight but nodded. Licking his lip, he explained. “Megatron and the Decepticons, they're the bad guys, are from Cybertron, a planet far away from Earth. They came here looking for the AllSpark. But the Autobots, they’re also from Cybetron, came here to stop him. One of them is my car, who Sector Seven captured.” Sam explained, glaring at Simmons.

“It is an NBE, dangerous and a wealth of knowledge.” Simmons smirked at his confused frown. He waved at Megatron. “What do you think we’ve been doing with its body? Stare at it all day and make up outlandish theories? No! It is the source of the modern age. Microchip, lasers, spaceflight, cars, all reversed engineered by studying it, NBE-1. That’s what we call it.”

“And you want to do the same to his car.” The Dark Knight glared darkly at Simmons, forcing him to back away from Sam.

“And you didn’t think that the United States military might need to know that you’re keeping a hostile alien robot frozen in the basement?” Keller demanded.

“Until these events, we had no credible threat to national security.” Banachek tried to explain.

“Well you got one now.” Keller snapped back

“And now it is a global threat.” Black Lightning glared at Banachek. “Everything that has happened from the Qatar base attack to this shows that these alien robots have been on Earth for a long time. And with more coming last night.”

“Actually, it was the Autobots that came last night.” Sam spoke up, flinching when Batman and Black Lightning’s glares were turned to him instead. “They are the good ones who want to protect the AllSpark from the Decepticons.”

The Leaguers exchanged glances at the new information. Whether it was true or not was yet to be determine. Based on past experience, it was safer to verify it themselves before trusting in unknown aliens. It seemed that Sector Seven had the same thought but with the intention of experimenting the aliens. The Justice League may not be very trusting of aliens but they draw the line at experimentation.

“What is the AllSpark anyway?” One of the soldiers asked.

“It’s a cube-looking thing. Anyway, Mr. NBE-1, aka Megatron, that’s what they call him, is pretty much the harbinger of death. He wants to use the cube to transform human technology to take over the universe. That’s their plan.”

“You sure about that?” Simmons asked, uncharacteristically worried.

“Yeah.” Sam nodded, wondering what got the agent bothered.

Batman narrowed his eyes behind the cowl and he stormed up to Simmons. “You know where the AllSpark is.”

There was a tense moment of silence as the Sector Seven officers debated on whether to answer that. Finally, Banachek gestured for them to follow him. “Follow me.”

Batman and Black Lightning however lingered behind, glaring at NBE-1 or Megatron.

“Do you think we can trust Witwicky’s words?”

“Uncertain. Until Superman and Wonder Woman interrogate them, we have to assume that they are all hostile threats. But I do not want Sector Seven to continue their experiments on the NBEs.”

* * *

Meanwhile, along the dusty roads of the Nevada, the Autobot convoy are nearing the dam. Optimus and his crew were quiet throughout the drive with minimal chatter between Jazz and Arcee about the asteroid that forced her off course. They were close, Optimus could feel it in his spark. But something popped up in his radar, indicating that there were two blips was flying towards them.

 _“Optimus?”_ Ratchet commed him warily, having detected the same thing. The others slowed down as they picked it up.

 _“Slag! Is it the Decepticons? I’ll blow them up!”_ Ironhide’s engine roared as he prepared to transform.

 _“Maintain your cover!”_ Optimus quickly snapped to stop his weapons expert from doing something rash. _“For all we know, it may be the humans.”_

 _“The readings indicate they are organic.”_ Ratchet noted.

Ironhide huffed in disappointment at not being able to fight ‘Cons. Optimus inwardly sighed in amusement at his antics but kept a close watch on the radar.

Up in the sky, Superman and Wonder Woman were keeping an eye on the unusual convoy. Oracle had tracked the Hummer from the footage Flash obtained all the way to Jasper, Nevada before losing sight of it. But based on the direction they were going, it was likely they were heading for Hoover Dam through the isolated roads. After circling around the desert, Superman and Wonder Woman found the Hummer and the convoy of a mismatch of vehicles it was part of.

A quick X-ray check, curtesy of Superman, showed that there were no drivers, only holograms in the driver seat of each vehicle.

Superman turned to his companion. “How are we going to do this?”

“A direct confrontation.” Wonder Woman said decisively. “They slowed down. If they are as advance as Batman thinks, it is likely that they noticed us.”

“If so, they haven’t tried to attack us.” Superman pointed out.

“If their intentions on Earth is peaceful, we will give them the benefit of doubt. But until we are sure of that, we will carry out our duty to protect humanity.” Wonder Woman unclipped her lasso from her belt. Superman had to agree with her reasoning and sped up, landing abruptly in front of the blue truck with red and yellow flames etched on. Wonder Woman soon followed his suit.

The convoy came to a halt before they crashed into the two powerhouses of the League. Superman could hear their engines revving in anticipation. He held up his hands to pacify them.

“This is Superman and Wonder Woman of the Justice League, protectors of Earth. We know that you are robotic aliens. We do not wish to fight you, only ask about your intentions for arriving on Earth. But if you intend to harm our planet, we will be forced to remove you.”

_“Slag! Should we blast them?”_ Each of the ‘Bots tensed in agreement with the Weapon Specialist.

 _“No Ironhide. Stand down.”_ Optimus commanded. A quick check on the Internet and he vented softly. _“They are telling the truth. They, and this Justice League, have been protecting the inhabitants of the planet for years now, including fending off multiple alien invasions. They are right to be wary of us.”_

_“Then what should we do? We need to get to the AllSpark.”_ Jazz asked.

_“I will speak with them. Hopefully I can convince them to help us stop the Decepticons.”_ Optimus drove forward and transformed into his bipedal form. Superman and Wonder Woman’s eyes widen and stepped back, both tensed and ready for a fight. However, Optimus merely knelt down to be closer to eye level with them.

“My name is Optimus Prime of Cybertron, leader of the Autobots. We are here because of the AllSpark, an ancient artifact of our planet that was sent away to prevent the Decepticons from getting their hands on it. It landed on your planet millenniums ago.”

“So you are here to take this AllSpark?”

“And protect it from the Decepticons. Make no mistake, the Decepticons are on Earth as well and will stop at nothing to obtain it.” Optimus answered Superman. He gestured behind at his comrades. “I promise you that we mean no harm to the humans and are willing to protect them from the Decepticons.”

The two heroes exchanged glances. Optimus sounded sincere but so did many of the previous alien species that tried to invade Earth. To be absolutely sure, they had to use the Lasso of Truth.

Superman leaned closer to Wonder Woman and whispered, “Would your lasso work on machines?”

“If they have sentience and the capability to lie, then it will.” Wonder Woman whispered back. She flew up to Optimus’ eye level and extended her lasso at him. “We will see if you are telling the truth. This is the Lasso of Truth. It will compel whoever holds it to speak the truth, and only the truth. We will confirm that you are sincere with your words with it.”

“Prime…” Ironhide transformed into his bipedal form along with the others in protest. But Optimus waved them down.

“It’s alright. It is their way of ensuring the safety of their people. If we fight them, we will lose their trust and they will prevent us from finding the AllSpark.”

Optimus extended his servo and took hold of the lasso. He shuddered as the lasso glowed, and his companions looked on worriedly.

“Firstly, were you sincere and truthful with your words?”

“Yes, I was.” Optimus rumbled.

“What will the Decepticons do with the AllSpark if they get their hands on it?”

There was a slight pause and Optimus’ trembled as he answered. “They will use the AllSpark to transform Earth’s machines into sentient beings that will be loyal only to Megatron, the leader of the Decepticons. Once they do that, they will have an army to take over your world and other planets as well.”

“Don’t fight it.” Wonder Woman advised him. “And what will you do if you retrieve the AllSpark?”

There was a tense pause as the Autobots behind Optimus shifted uneasily and Optimus shut his optics. “I will destroy it by merging with my Spark. It was my mistake to launch the AllSpark off Cybertron. In the end, it was for naught as Megatron found it and Cybertron is dying. I will not let the human race and my comrades pay for my mistake.”

“Again I strongly advice you not to do that. There are other ways to stop the Decepticons from controlling the AllSpark. You’ll die if you do that.” Ratchet protested.

“I will do what needs to be done in order to stop Megatron.”

Wonder Woman inhaled sharply. She tugged on her lasso and Optimus released it, venting heavily. She glanced at Superman who had a matching stricken look. “I think we can trust you. Thank you for answering our questions.”

Optimus let out a vent of relief to be free from the lasso’s influence. Superman gave him a slight sympathetic glance and asked, “So do you know where the AllSpark is?”

“A few miles further down the direction we are going.”

Wonder Woman nodded and flew further up. “Please allow us to escort you to your destination. I think I have an idea of where you are going. We can discuss our plans against the Decepticons once you retrieve the AllSpark.”

“That will be much appreciated.”

 _“Prime.”_ Ironhide groaned over the comns.

_“Hush old friend. It is beneficial for us in the long run that we make allies with the heroes of Earth. Check the World Wide Web and you will understand.”_ Optimus sounded amuse as he transformed back to his alt. mode.

The others followed and they continued driving in the direction indicated by the glasses. As they did, they checked up the Justice League. There were sounds of surprise and awe at their findings regarding the accomplishments of the League.

_“No way. They have aliens in their ranks.”_ Jazz whistled.

_“And a Kryptonian!”_ Ratchet exclaimed. _“I thought they went extinct when Krypton blew up!”_

Optimus said nothing as his crew shared his findings over the comn line with a small smile. He heard tales of Krypton before the war broke out on Cybetron. They were an advance race almost on equal on their own. Unfortunately, the war made it impossible to help Krypton when a Kryptonian scientist contacted them for help to save his planet when he realized that it was going to blow up. It was a regret that hung heavily on Optimus since he learned the fate of the once prosperous planet. To learn that Superman survived and is protecting Earth is a small relief on his Spark. And to have him and his fraction as allies is reassuring and might give them an edge against the Decepticons from securing the AllSpark.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super short and I forgot to post this chapter.

Back at Hoover Dam, Banachek led the group to a viewing room where they were treated with the majestic sight of a massive cube covered with similar glyphs to the ones that Cyborg found and in Project Iceman’s files. Electricity crackled along the cube with machines and walkways attached to it. Zatanna rubbed her temple as she sensed the overwhelming mystic power from the cube.

“You ok?” Rocket whispered at her.

“Yeah.” Zatanna quickly nodded as the feeling faded. “The mystic power from the Cube was just intense.”

“Anything we should worry about?” Black Lightning asked which Zatanna shook her head at.

“Carbon dating puts the Cube around 10000 BC.” Banachek started explaining about the Cube. “The first Seven didn’t find it until 1913. They knew it was alien because of the matching hieroglyphics on the Cube as well as NBE-1. President Hoover had the Dam built around it. Four football fields thick of concrete, the perfect way to hide its energy from being detected by anyone or any alien species from the outside.”

Batman grunted at that information. “Exposing this many people to an alien artifact’s energy might be dangerous in the long term.”

“Take Kryptonite for example.” Black Lightning grimaced at the thought of the dangerous green rock that turns out to be dangerous not only to the Supers, but to humans as well if its radiation is not properly contained.

“We ran as many tests as we can on the Cube and its energy. It is harmless against humans. But it has…a unique effect on machines.” Banachek then led the group to a different room. This one was more like a safe with various marks on the walls and a reinforced container box in the middle of the room.

“Please step inside. They have to lock us in.” As soon as the group was inside, a worker sealed the door from the outside.

“What could have caused them?” Black Lightning muttered as he ran his fingers through a sizable dent.

“Hm.” Batman crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at Banachek and Simmons. So far, Sector Seven’s methods of handling aliens and alien artifacts has been questionable and from the looks of the SecDef’s face, he agrees with Batman’s assessment. The state of the room was not reassuring of what the organization’s use of the Cube’s energy is either.

“Anyone have any mechanical devices?”

The civilian from earlier tossed a smartphone at Simmons. Nearly everyone was handed goggles, save for Black Lightning and Batman, as Simmons placed the phone in the container and sealed it shut.

“We are able to take the Cube’s radiation and funnel it into that box.” Simmons said as he flipped several switches in the corner of the room. There was a loud hum as the energy from the Cube was directed into the phone. Once the lights died down, the phone started shaking and then transformed into a tiny robot!

Everyone silently gasped in shock and awe of the display. But the robot started acting aggressive as it rammed into the box, trying to escape.

“Mean little sucker, eh?” Simmons grinned.

“That thing is freaky!” The female civilian that came with Keller exclaimed.

“Like an itty bity energizer bunny from hell.”

Zatanna and Rocket were momentarily distracted as they rolled their eyes at Simmons. That moment nearly made them miss the robot producing a shoulder gun and missile and shot at the glass.

“Oh, it’s breaking the box.” Simmons pressed the trigger on a device connecting to the box. Electricity surged in the box, frying the robot to death.

* * *

Outside, J’onn was loitering around with the visitors. Occasionally, he would get updates from Black Lightning mentally and from Oracle and Superman from his comm.

From what he could piece together from both sides, there are two fractions within the alien robots, or Cybertronians as they refer to themselves as, and at war with each other. One wanted complete domination of the planet and their race while the other wants to protect it and everyone else. After receiving the revelation of Megatron’s status as leader of the Decepticons and is held in the dam with the AllSpark, J’onn knew that he must inform Superman and Wonder Woman so that they can relay the information to Optimus Prime.

“Martian Manhunter to Superman.” J’onn tapped his earpiece but all he got was static. He tried again, “Martian Manhunter to Superman or the Watchtower, do you read?”

Again, nothing. Something was jamming their comms, he realized. He tried to inform Black Lightning through telepathy but a fighter jet flew very low and close to the dam which broke his concentration. Before his very eyes, the fighter jet transformed into another Cybertronian and fired at the power plant that powers the dam’s infrastructure before taking off again.

As people were screaming and running away, J’onn shifted out of his disguise and phased into the dam to find Black Lightning’s team while invisible.

* * *

Inside, everyone felt the dam shook when the power plant was fired at. The atmosphere became grim immediately.

“Gentlemen, they know the Cube is here.”

Banacheck immediately tried to find out what was going on from the intercom. “Banachek. What’s going on?”

_“The NBE-1 hanger has just lost power…”_ A nervous technician informed them nervously.

“What?!”

_“…and the back up generator is not going to cut it.”_

One of the soldiers rushed to him. “Do you have an arms room?”

“We do. Come on.” Banachek banged on the door to be let out. He turned to the four Leaguers in the room and swallowed heavily. “We might need the Justice League to contain the NBE.”

Black Lightning nodded in agreement but Batman grabbed his shoulder to get his attention. “The comms. are down. Something is jamming them.”

“We’re going to have to do this on our own then.” The JLA leader sighed before straightening. “Batman and Rocket, go with the soldiers and keep the civilians safe. Zatanna and I will do whatever we can to prevent the NBE from thawing and if necessary, keep him from leaving the facility.”

The leaguers nodded at Black Lightning’s directive and as soon as the doors opened, Black Lightning and Zatanna went with the flow of S7 soldiers to the NBE-1 chamber while Batman and Rocket followed Banachek to the arms room.

Once there, the soldiers began to arm themselves with sabot rounds which Batman learned is the only thing that can pierce the NBE’s armor. Retreating to the side, he activated his wrist computer and checked the Batplane. While comms are down, he can still remotely access the Batplane which was still around the dam but was disconnected from Oracle’s mainframe by whatever that is jamming the comms. He manually updated the armaments to switch to sabot ammo as well. The lights suddenly flickered and the facility shook, making him look up with narrowed eyes. That was not a good sign. Either the facility is under attack or the NBE is breaking free. Recognizing this as well, Sam marched up to Simmons.

“You got to take me to my car. You have to get me to my car. He’ll know what to do with the Cube.” Sam demanded.

“Your car?” Simmons shook his head with a scoff. “It’s confiscated.”

“Then unconfiscated it!”

“We do not know what will happen if we let it near that thing!”

“You don’t know.”

“Maybe you know, but I don’t know.”

“You just want to sit here and wait and see what happens?” Sam was growing frustrated that Simmons won’t corporate.

And Simmons was just as frustrated and impatient at Sam’s demand. “I have people’s lives at stake here, young man!”

Apparently, Sam and Simmons were not the only ones getting anxious about the situation with the car as Captain Lennox stormed up to them. Too Simmons’ and everyone’s surprise, he grabbed Simmons and threw him against a jeep.

“Take him to his car!”

This triggered a show down between the S7 soldiers and the army soldiers. Rocket immediately threw up a bubble over the rest of the civilians to protect them in case a shootout did happen.

“Woah! Woah! Woah!” Banachek raised his hands to stop them from doing something reckless, like shooting one another.

“Drop your weapon soldier.” Simmons ordered Lennox. “There’s an alien war going on and you’re going to shoot me?”

“You know, we didn’t ask to be here.”

“I’m ordering you under S-Seven executive jurisdiction…”

“S-Seven don’t exist.” Epps reminded them of S7’s status to the world, including the militia.

“Right. We don’t take orders from people who don’t exist.”

“Enough.”

The room chilled as everyone jerked their heads to the Dark Knight who was looming and definitely pissed.

“Ep! It’s the signature Batglare!” Glenn shook Maggie’s arm with a whisper. “I heard that he can make criminals run to the police to turn themselves in with that glare!”

“That’s not far off.” Rocket shook her head wryly. “I can’t tell you how many times we were on the receiving end of that glare.”

“What did you do to warrant that?” Mikaela asked, intrigued.

“Disobeying orders to go on unauthorized missions and blowing things up.” Rocket said almost too gleefully.

“Wow.”

Batman’s approach towards Simmons and Lennox was unstopped as the soldiers of both sides shivered and got out of his way, lest they got the glare directed at them. He stopped and turned to Sam, making him gulp and his knees knock together.

“Are you certain that your NBE friend can help us get the Cube out of here?”

Sam swallowed heavily but nodded. “Yes, Bumblebee can.”

Batman cocked his head and turned to Simmons. He reached out and grabbed Lennox’s gun, lowering it. “Allow me.”

Lennox numbly released Simmons and stepped back. Simmons barely held in a squeal when Batman assumed Lennox’s former position and leveled his glare at him.

“Take. The. Boy. To. His. Car.”


End file.
